Water vessel with two parrots and prunus

This white nephrite carving depicts an oval water container resting on a section of plum branch. Blossoming branches rise above, and another arches over the side of the vessel. Two parrots have alighted on the piece; one rests on the branch, the other bends over for a drink of water.

The size of the white nephrite is impressive. The material was widely available after the Qing emperors took control of province of Xinjiang, the jade-producing area of Central Asia. This piece is highly polished, a characteristic of the early 1900s.

Parrots are kept as pets in China. They are valued for their intelligence and their ability to mimic human speech. Parrots and peacocks are among the tributes from southern areas like Lingnan (Guangdong province) and Annam (Vietnam), from the second and third centuries onward (Schafer [year?], 96–101). During the Tang dynasty, parrots, parakeets, and cockatoos were given as tributes gifts to the court. Yang Gueifei, the favorite consort of the Emperor Xuanzhong, was known to have kept a white cockatoo as a pet.